Today San Diego City Council's Rules and Economic Development Committee directed its staff to develop an ordinance banning single-use plastic bags in the city.

If approved the ordinance would restrict the distribution of single-use plastic bags in supermarkets, large stores that sell food, plus drug, convenience, hardware and clothing stores, according to news10.com.

"San Diego is poised to become one of the largest cities to take such a positive step towards bettering our environment," committee Chairwoman Sherri Lightner. "This is about protecting our ocean, our canyons, our waterways and landfills."

Further north, both Manhattan Beach and San Jose adopted bans on expanded polystyrene takeout food packaging. San Jose's ordinance is the largest in the nation.

These three cities should be commended for taking seriously the economic and environmental impacts caused by plastic pollution, which commonly finds its way into storm drains, waterways and the ocean.

Plastic bags and polystyrene food containers are among the most commonly found items during beach and coastal cleanups. Because plastic essentially never biodegrades, once littered it becomes a permanent environmental problem. This results in danger to marine wildlife and over $500 million in clean up costs for California communities.